This part three is the story of the birth of my son Zoser.
Zoser's story begins on a gorgeous sunny February morning. I was lying in bed with my beloved Rer and our adorable baby boy Shiin. We were staying at my parents farm in a converted outbuilding that we had previously given birth to our first boy Shiin in 20 months before, as our actual home at that point was a tiny little camper van! The wood burner crackled merrily taking the chill off the morning. It was about 6 am when I felt my first contraction. I remember feeling a mixture of emotions. So happy to bringing my new baby forth, and a bit scared of giving birth again, also bursting with love for my baby boy Shiin, wondering if I would ever be able to love another baby as much as I loved him! We all snuggled there in the early morning light for another hour or so as a family of three, while I nursed Shiin and the contractions gently came and went. Rer took Shiin up to the house to my parents so they could look after him while I laboured.
Rer razzed up the burner and lit many many candles all round the hearth, it was so beautiful. I moved around the room, stopping to hold onto things while I contracted. The labour gently progressed, with Rer feeding me spoonfuls of honey and molasses to keep my energy up and drinks of water, and both of us repeating our birthing mantra, 'down, good, open, yes!'. A little later the rushes started coming on quite strong. I was vocalizing quite loudly through them by this time. Rer was supporting me beautifully, rubbing my back and toning with me. The wild black cat Poppy, who lived on the land at the farm came in and set up residence by the door. She looked like a sphinx, a guardian of the gate and I felt a very protective energy coming from her. A bit later, Rer wrapped me in my dressing gown and took me a little walk down into the orchard. It was difficult to walk and the contractions were really strong. I felt vulnerable outside and just wanted to be back safe in our little birthing nest. I had to lean on Rer for support and we slowly made our way back to the nest.
Rer called our friend and doula Anara and she soon arrived. Rer and Anara did a lovely protection invoking prayer and lit more candles. We had a beautiful shrine and the energy in the room was so lovely. I started to feel the bearing down sensations. I knelt on the floor at the foot of the bed. I think I was there for a while, but time didn't make much sense to me at that point! I was pushing quite hard but baby wasn't coming out yet. Rer and Anara decided to lift me up to a standing so gravity and a change of position could help. Almost as soon as I stood up, the waters broke and baby's head crowned. I was bellowing like a tribal Mama! One more push and his head was out. Then on the next contraction his body flew out and down onto the cushions. They helped me down onto my knees again and I picked him up. We realized that his cord had ripped in half, it must have been quite short, so baba was in my arms and his placenta and most of his cord was still inside me. It was so quick in the end that I felt quite in shock, as baba must have done too. Rer quickly tied hemp string around his cord and we wrapped him up and put him to the breast. He latched on pretty quick. Anara gave me homeopathic Arnica for the shock and this helped. It seemed to take absolutely ages to birth the placenta, but finally it came out and Rer put it in a bowl, and helped me to bed.
A burst of winter sunshine beamed in through the window and Rer wrapped Zoser up and took him outside the door briefly to see the sun for the first time, before tucking him back into my arms. The midwife arrived and checked me and baby over and filled in all the notes, then left. Poppy the cat jumped up onto the covers and snuggled up between my legs! She stayed there all night like a proper little guardian.
So my beautiful boy was born without his parachute! I feel that he was in a hurry to be born as he knew he had business here on this planet! He is a proper little earth warrior, but he is also very dreamy, even now! I chose his name when I was pregnant with him. We visited Egypt and went to a place called Saqquara, where there is a step pyramid built by Pharoah Zoser. I didn't know for sure, but I felt strongly I was carrying a boy child, and I decided that Zoser would be a great name for him. The whole labour and birth lasted 8 hours and I give so many thanks for his safe arrival, especially when it was so dramatic! Zoser weighed in at 8 pounds and 5 ounces. I needn't have worried about not loving this baby as much as my boy Shiin. As soon as I saw him, my heart expanded massively to fit both my baby boys easily into my love!!!
(Top picture is baby Zoser and Poppy in our giant bed. We moved into our yurt, bought from our magical doula friend Anara and her man, after Zoser was born. Bottom picture is my baby boys together! Lucky mama!!! )
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